New wave of bomb attacks kills 56 in Baghdad and Mosul

Another wave of car bombs hit Shiite neighbourhoods of Baghdad and a suicide bomber targeted soldiers in a northern city in attacks that killed at least 56 across Iraq yesterday.

Co-ordinated bombing onslaughts killing scores of people have hit Iraq each month, feeding a spike in bloodshed that has left more than 5,000 dead since April. The local branch of al-Qaeda often takes responsibility, although there was no immediate claim for yesterday's blasts.

Four police officers said that the bombs in the capital, placed in parked cars and detonated over a half-hour, targeted commercial areas and car parks, killing 42.

The deadliest blast was in the southeastern Nahrwan district where two car bombs exploded simultaneously, killing seven and wounding 15 others. Two other explosions hit the northern Shaab and southern Abu Dshir neighborhoods, each of which killed six people.

Other blasts hit the neighbourhoods of Mashtal, Baladiyat and Ur in eastern Baghdad, the southwestern Bayaa and the northern Sab al-Bor and Hurriyah districts.

Meanwhile, in the northern city of Mosul, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a group of soldiers as they were sealing off a street leading to a bank where troops were receiving salaries, killing 14 included five civilians, a police officer said. At least 30 people were wounded, he added.